A Nar Shaddaa agri-utility crop sprayer, also referred to as a "Narsh dirt-crate" by clone commando RC-1309, was operated by clone commandos of the Galactic Republic in 22 BBY. Housed in the Grand Army of the Republic's Fleet Support Air Station on the world Ord Mantell, the crop sprayer was used by the Special Operations Brigade to transport Omega Squad clone commandos to the Mid Rim planet Qiilura on their mission to apprehend Separatist scientist Ovolot Qail Uthan. After entering the planet's atmosphere, the vessel succumbed to a bird strike, knocking out its engines and sending the crop sprayer plummeting to Qiilura's surface, where it was destroyed.

Description[]

A crop sprayer repurposed for use by the Grand Army of the Republic's Special Operations Brigade, the Nar Shaddaa agri-utility crop sprayer was piloted by an astromech droid and had been stripped of its internal tanks and equipped with securing straps to contain at least five passengers. To carry living passengers, the crop sprayer was equipped with life support systems. The sprayer also had sublight drives for space travel and was capable of atmospheric flight. The vessel's bulkhead had further been lined with stealth sheeting, rendering its cargo invisible to scans or probes. Featuring with a console to which a datapad could be connected, the converted vessel's transponder code had been set to broadcast its purpose as a crop sprayer hired to dress barq fields after a harvest. The crop sprayer shared its name with^[1] the Mid Rim moon^[3] Nar Shaddaa.^[1]

History[]

The Nar Shaddaa agri-utility crop sprayer was stored in Docking Bay D-768 of the Galactic Republic's Fleet Support Air Station—an auxiliary of Fleet Support, a structure used by the Grand Army on^[1] the Mid Rim planet^[3] Ord Mantell^[1] in 22 BBY.^[2] Piloted by a single red R5-series astromech droid, the crop sprayer was used to transport the four clone commandos of Omega Squad—RC-3222, RC-1309, RC-1136, RC-8015—and the Jedi Padawan Bardan Jusik to^[1] the Mid Rim^[4] world of Qiilura, where they were assigned to locate and neutralize Separatist scientist Ovolot Qail Uthan to suspend her progress on a clone-killing nanovirus^[1] named FG36.^[5]

Under the guise as one of the many crop sprayers that frequented Qiilura after the barq harvest, the craft entered the temperate planet's airspace successfully. As it neared the final hundred kilometers to the designated drop point, the vessel collided with a number of a Qiiluran avian species, which proceeded to destroy its engines and send it spiraling to the planet's surface. The commandos quickly exited the craft using parachutes, but the crop sprayer crashed shortly after, exploding with its pilot roughly thirty kilometers away from the planned target zone according to an estimation by RC-1136.^[1]

Behind the scenes[]

The Nar Shaddaa agri-utility crop sprayer appeared in the 2004 novel Hard Contact, the first novel in the Republic Commando series written by Karen Traviss.^[1]

Appearances[]

• Republic Commando: Hard Contact (First appearance)

Notes and references[]